Hope Mafaranga
It is quite disturbing when you listened to a moving
testimony from Eddy Okello, a widow who was displaced by Karimojong cattle
raiders and later three of her kids abducted by the Lord`s Resistance Army
(LRA).
Life is not stable, there is ups and downs part of it, a
person may not imagine at certain point in time he or she will overcome the
psychologically stress inflicted in his or her life and become very success in
life.
“We migrated from Olilim Sub County in Otuke district 1986
by the Karimonjong cattle rustlers,” she narrated.
“We were displaced to Lira town and again the LRA insecurity
invaded the region and ended up in Internally Displaced People camp in Lira
town,” she added.
Never would Okello expect to be the chairperson of prominent
cooperative society with 6,250 members, both men and women. She is the
chairperson of Acwec Omio Women Group suited at Acan Pii in Loro Sub County,
Oyam district.
“Two of my girls were kidnapped by the LRA rebels from Iceme
Girls secondary school including a boy, Omara Denis when we were still in
Olilim,” she continued. Omara 12 was abducted when she was going to school.
After years living in squalid IDP camp at Pentecostal Church
Uganda, life was not easy with Okello as most of the time the group relay on
handout or relief from humanitarian agencies. She spent two years battling to
survive in the camp.
She could retail water in town and fetched them with people
doing construction at the cost sh100 per jerrican. Casual work like digging
people`s garden was also another way of surviving in the camps which had
displaced from Otuke and Alebtong 17,000.
Since Okello was looking at the future of the family, she
could save the money purposely to acquire land and settled in Oyam. Okello`s
200 hectares was in Otuke and dormant.
“In 2003 we decided to buy this land at sh150, 000 and
settled here,” she explained. The land is measuring 15 hectares.
Farming
In the piece of land Okello is comfortably producing
adequate food and practicing commercial farming including paying fees for her
children though she is a widow. The husband died last year. She has planted
soya as oil seed, keeping 50 bee hives, sunflower, goats and rearing pigs.
“I got 56kg of honey last year and sold each kilo at
15,000kg,” she added. Other crops she
produces in small quantity are simsim, groundnuts, beans and millet.
“We also bulk in our store things like sunflower, soya,
maize and sorghum, waiting for the good market,” Okello added.
With planting season, no one could belief Okello spent two
years in camp because several crops are coming up in his gardern around the
compound.
A close look to his compound it shows the one for a village
tycoon as a number of group members keep on spending leisure hours at her home.
She has constructed a permanent house in her compound after practicing
commercial forming for some times.
Chairperson of cooperative
The group started with 15 members living in IDP camps but
they become so active and other people also decided to join them. Now the group
has shot to 6.250 members (3,000 men and 3,250 women) with it big store Acan
Pii trading center.
International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) trained
the group how to use fertilizers and have bumping harvest.
“IFDC gave us tarpaulin and advised us to buy improved seed
if the cooperative is to go commercial,” she recalled.
The group according to Okello is now stabilized and buying
seeds from Victoria Seeds, Equator Seeds and Uganda Oil Seeds and Processor
Association. She said each member has his owned land and would plant his or her
crops and bulk it as a group.
The store
When she was given a chance to lead the group of farmers and
revamp the cooperative society, Okello requested African Development Foundation
to build a store to bulk their produce.
“They told us to prepare Bill of Quantity and give them.
UOSPA helped us to prepare and we give them,” she added. She said the BOQ took
two years and they were almost giving up on the request.
“But fortunately the request was honored and started
construction while the community contribution was land, bricks and water,” she
said.
UOSPA donated sh45m to help the group with the construction
of the store but now the store has the capacity of bulking 800 matrix tons.
Okello`s fear.
“We are scared that the LRA will come back because for many
times she will eagerly be attempting to come back to northern Uganda and start
committing atrocities,” she added.
Okello says she is a peace maker and also among delegation
who talked to Joseph Kony to stop fighting when the Uganda People Defence Force
(UPDF) flashed him to Garamba forest in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“I went to Kenya and later to Garamba forest,” she
elaborated.
Pictures and voices attached
End
Comments
Post a Comment